ACE, Other Associations Outline How Higher Education Can Help Combat COVID-19
A letter sent Friday to President Biden by ACE and more than three dozen other higher education associations suggested a range of ways that colleges and universities may be able to help the country fight and conquer COVID-19. Among the areas outlined in the letter are supporting vaccination efforts, enhancing testing and tracing initiatives, and utilizing higher education experts. For instance, institutions can help deliver vaccine shots by utilizing available freezer capacity and existing infrastructure for long-standing campus flu vaccination efforts and using sports facilities and auditoriums with nearby parking to serve as mass vaccination sites. Existing laboratory capacity can be used to enhance COVID-19 testing and tracing initiatives in local communities, and higher education experts such as researchers can be temporarily placed in federal agencies where scientific or other expertise is urgently needed. ( American Council on Education - Feb. 1, 2021)
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Eric Lander is Brilliant, Connected, and Controversial. Now Joe Biden Wants Him to ‘Reinvigorate’ American Science[President] Biden has brought [Eric] Lander back in a far more influential role: White House science adviser. The selection, and Biden’s decision to instantly elevate the role to Cabinet status, comes at a pivotal moment for the future of American science, and underscores the new administration’s pledge to place science at the center of government. [Lander is no] stranger to Washington, where his penchant for rubbing elbows has earned him connections to high-level government scientists, members of Congress, and even Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer . . . . Lander is described by friends and associates as an engaging, uber-talented science communicator who does not suffer fools, with an ability to both envision and execute complex and ambitious scientific projects. He is not, however, without a healthy ego, and has had his share of controversy. ( STAT - Feb. 1, 2021)
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Court Tosses Trump EPA's 'Secret Science' Rule
A federal court has vacated the Trump administration's "secret science" Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, which critics had said would undermine the use of public health studies in agency rulemaking. The decision comes after the Biden administration asked the court to throw out the rule restricting the EPA’s use of studies that don’t make their underlying data publicly available. In his order vacating the rule and remanding it to the EPA, Montana federal District Judge Brian Morris noted that the agency argued that a prior court ruling eliminated the rule's legal basis. ( The Hill - Feb. 1, 2021)
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Legal Win for Foreign Student Work Program
A U.S. District Court judge issued an opinion last week upholding a program important to many in higher education that allows international students to stay and work in the U.S. after they graduate in a field related to their area of study. Nearly a quarter million people participate in the optional practical training program, or OPT, which allows international students to work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduating while staying on their student visas. Reggie B. Walton, U.S. district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled that the Department of Homeland Security did not overstep its authority in expanding the OPT program, contrary to the arguments made by the plaintiffs, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech). ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 2, 2021)
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Education Dept. Orders Navient to Refund $22.3 Million in Decade-old Student Loan Scandal
Before leaving office, acting education secretary Mitchell Zais ordered Navient, one of the nation’s largest student loan companies, to refund $22.3 million that it allegedly overcharged the Education Department more than a decade ago. In the early 2000s, the department’s inspector general found several private lenders, including Navient’s former sister company Sallie Mae, overcharged the federal government by tens of millions of dollars. Investigators recommended in 2013 that the department have Sallie Mae return the estimated $22.3 million owed, but the company denied any wrongdoing. Navient, which assumed Sallie Mae’s liabilities when the companies parted ways, continued to fight the audit and appealed to the Trump administration. Zais, who took over when Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned last month, has held the company liable to repay the money. ( The Washington Post - Feb. 1, 2021)
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Group Urges Cancellation of Institutional Student Debt
Congress and the Biden administration should require colleges and universities to forgive all institutional debt as a condition of getting additional coronavirus relief funds, said the Student Borrower Protection Center. At the least, institutions should not be allowed to withhold students’ transcripts because they owe money, said the group run by Seth Frotman, former assistant director and student loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration, in a report published Monday. ( Inside Higher Ed - Feb. 2, 2021)
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